New method to help bee colony resist disease focus of workshop

Sunday

Feb 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

WELLS, Maine — Beekeepers, here’s a great opportunity to learn about the latest techniques for strengthening your bee colonies’ resistance to disease. On Thursday, March 28, Master Beekeeper Erin MacGregor-Forbes will lead a two-hour workshop on improving bee colony health.

The class is recommended for those with at least one year’s beekeeping experience. It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Mather Auditorium at Laudholm Farm, 342 Laudholm Farm Road in Wells, Maine.

“Breaking the Brood Cycle” is a technique which replicates the bee colony’s most valuable natural defenses against disease. Beekeepers will learn what breaking the brood cycle can do for their colonies, and how to improve their own pest management program with this technique. Forbes will explain how this process works in the natural cycle of the bees and how it benefits the colony for strength and disease resistance. Then she will discuss in detail how and when the beekeeper can simulate the process in their own colonies, utilizing the bees’ natural cycles as a guide to improve colony health.

Best of all, the class fee includes one pre-assembled nuc box set-up (5-frame deep or 10-frame medium) for each participant, so you will be ready to go this summer!

The workshop fee is $55 or $80, depending on your choice of one pre-assembled nuc box set: the $55 course fee includes a 5-frame deep nuc box; $80 fee includes a 10-frame medium nuc box. Pre-registration is required by February 12, to allow time to order your nuc box. Register online at: http://umaine.edu/york/programs/beekeeping/ or call 1-800-287-1535 (in-state) or 207-324-2814 to register by phone or to request a registration form.

The workshop is sponsored by the York County Beekeepers Association and University of Maine Cooperative Extension in York County. For more information, contact UMaine Extension at 1-800-287-1535 (in state) or 207-324-2814 or (TDD) 1-800-287-8957 or email: rebecca.gowdy@maine.edu.Any person with a disability who needs accommodations for the program should contact Frank Wertheim at 1-800-287-1535 to discuss their needs at least 7 days in advance. UMaine Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.

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